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3/30/10

Our Garden Project - The Beginning Stages

I have been thinking about starting a raised garden since Christmas and told Brett it was one of his Christmas presents when really it was just a project I needed to tackle. Ha! He didn't seem to mind. After weeks of elaborate scheming and slightly unrealistic goals of growing and pureeing all of Ruby's baby food myself, and then realizing we'd be out of town quite a lot this summer anyway, I settled on ONE garden bed. One little 4' x 4' garden bed to grow our favorites, to serve as a low risk investment until we have a better handle on gardening, and just enough to teach Sebastian about how plants grow.

Last weekend I managed to make it to the store with both kids in tow twice! The first trip wast to get materials for our tree swing and the second was for the garden and front lawn. We've been renting for almost two years now and I've always hated how our front yard looked but haven't wanted to put any money into fixing it in case we were to move. I think it was a commitment issue but this is the longest we've lived anywhere since we've been married so can you blame me? So Sunday night we were all out in the front yard while Brett moved the existing slabs of rock, pulled up the plastic tarp, tilled the dirt, and layed out where we'll be planting our elephant ear tubers. I love elephant ears. Some of our neighbors have them so I know they'll be just fine in these parts. Now I have about 30 square feet of bare yard to reseed when S is occupied.

I wouldn't get anything done if I didn't have someone keeping me on task. Ruby has been assigned project manager and tends to stay on top of things. Sebastian has been deemed myquality inspector and part time sander. He just stops by from time to time to make sure I'm not slacking in my craftsmanship and to do touch ups when I've missed a spot.

If all turns out as intended we should have a tree swing up in the next day or two and the garden frame finished. I have two weeks until the farmer's almanac says we're mostly clear of a frost so I'm going to be patient and wait to put anything in the ground. After the stunt Spring pulled on us two weekends ago, I'm not taking any chances. Snow? Really? So far we've got a raspberry bush, broccoli, sweet onions, two strawberry plants, tomatoes, lavender, mint, and sunflower seeds. I honestly didn't have any more room in my cart so I'm going back next week for bell peppers, more strawberries, and maybe more onions. Not exactly a well rounded garden but we're keeping it fun! Who doesn't like strawberries!

photo from ApartmentTherapy

Build Your OwnIf you're not past planting dates already, here are a few helpful posts on starting your own container gardens on Apartment Therapy. See how my friend Ashley did it. She's a power tool wielding super mama! And see how Pioneer Woman made it easy and entertaining for us all.

If you've got a link to a gardening resource that you've found helpful, feel free to add it in the comment section below. I tend to need all the help I can get in this department! I'll be sure to share our progress as we go.

I loved raised bed gardening. Before I had lots of space I used to plant in anything I could find. Stacked tires to grow potatoes (a wonderful method), old wheelbarrows with holes drilled in the bottom.

What a fun project for all of you!

Don't forget to plant cherry tomatoes! My Grands just sit by the plants in the garden and eat until they're bursting.

Hey girl we have two raised garden beds. The most successful produce was root veg, beets and onions - carrots. Because it's raised up and mostly composed of compost - there wasn't a lot of pests in the ground.

Um also - Strawberries grow GREAT in hanging planters! Just so you know. You'll want to grow about 3 or 4 plants to yeild enough fruit to enjoy or do anything with. Ours grew kind of viney.

We just moved and I'm so excited to get started on a little garden; most likely a container garden. I'm a big reader of Mother Earth News Magazine and they always have awesome tips and articles in their mag and online. Hope it brings you a bountiful harvest Rachel!

so excited to see this post! we've been renting here too for about 2 years... when we lived in south dakota i had a biggy garden that i looooved! (and we actually got a lot of veggies!) tuesday at mops we are learning more about container gardening.. and you can bet that i'll be looking up these links too! yays! and yes... strawberries & onions will most def be on that list!xo.

I hope you enjoy gardening! I certainly like it. Thanks for the great websites. I'm going to check them out.

As a fellow Springfidian, definitely don't plant things until you know it won't frost. I tend to get overenthusiastic and then end up with dead plants. May 10th is our official frost date, but I have always seen May 1 as a good planting time.

I like to use the Friends of the Garden website here in Springfield for helpful gardening information. Their calendar (here: http://www.swmogardens.com/fogcalendar/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=600) always has a monthly calendar to help determine when to plant and prune, etc, etc.

WOW! You sound like I feel :) A month ago I played with gardening for the first time and planted a small potted herb garden. I learnt from the staff at the garden shop all about fertilisers and nutrients and stuff, and my plants are totally flourishing, which has me convinced if I can do it, anyone can. Yay! I'm now addicted to playing with my garden and adding more... eeek!